The Paulding Industrial Building Authority is nearing announcement of a new tenant for the county’s film studio and is asking a second prospect to move its start date and use the facility into early 2015, the authority’s director said last week.

Blake Swafford told authority members he soon may be able to disclose the name of the tenant, which would use the Atlanta Film Studio Paulding County from September through December.

“We have a verbal commitment and we’re waiting on a contract,” he said.

Swafford said the second “very, very strong” prospect had wanted to lease the facility beginning in November, which would conflict with the September prospect.

“We’ve gone back to them and asked them whether or not they can shift their start date to Jan. 1 for that show. If they agree to shift their show back to January, we’ll have two back-to-back shows.”

The studio, located off Bill Carruth Parkway in Hiram, earlier this year hosted production of a talent show titled “Fake Off” featuring “Chilli” Thomas of the singing group TLC and Harry Shum Jr. of the TV series “Glee” as judges.

It is scheduled to air later this year on the truTV cable channel.

It also served as a production facility for the 2013 movie “42” and the pilot for the cable TV show “Halt and Catch Fire.”

In other action at the authority’s monthly meeting last week, a Paulding Economic Development representative said her agency was working with three companies considering building new facilities in Paulding, including one which could bring at least 100 new jobs.

Yolanda Newell said the agency is working with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce to bring two prospects to the county in September.

They are an aerospace-related company and an unrelated company considering building a headquarters facility which could produce the new jobs, Newell said.

“This [headquarters] is a project we have been working on with them for several months,” she said.

She said the agency has been working with a company that plans to finalize a location for its new memory care facility near WellStar Paulding Hospital by early October.

It also is working with an educational logistics company considering a Dallas location for a new facility, and is working to find ways to fund sewer lines to serve two existing industries in Hiram to allow them to remain and expand in their current locations, Newell said.

Paulding Economic Development is a public-private group established to recruit and retain industry in the county.

Also last week, Swafford asked authority members to consider asking the Georgia Department of Transportation to allow construction of an access road to a 10-acre industrial site the authority owns at the corner of U.S. Hwy. 278 and Hulseytown Road.

The only access now is a 20-foot road through residential property, Swafford said.

He said the site needed a 50-foot road off Hwy. 278 but GDOT designated it as a limited-access highway and would have to approve it, he said.

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